Oil prices rise as a result of US sanctions against Venezuela

Oil prices rose sharply on Tuesday, the day after US sanctions against Venezuelan oil company PDVSA.

The Brent barrel in the North Sea for delivery in March ended at $ 61.32 on the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) in London, which is $ 1.39 more than at the end of Monday.

On the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex), a barrel of “light sweet oil” (WTI) with the same supply rose by $ 1.32 to $ 53.31 at the close.

On Monday, Washington announced measures against DPVSA, accused of being a "means of corruption."

According to the US Treasury, these sanctions, which prohibit an oil company from trading with US enterprises and freezing its assets abroad, are aimed at preventing Maduro from “diverting more resources”.

“American buyers of crude oil from Venezuela will have to pay through a third party,” said Olivier Jacob, an analyst at Petromatrix, adding that this would lead to “a halt to the supply of oil to the United States.”

Very heavy Venezuelan oil is used in refineries in the southern United States, where it is mixed with lighter crude oil.